


Both Brothers

by BladeOfOlympus



Category: The Boy Who Fell (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Family Feels, Giving my sweet nephew both his big brothers, HK does a solid, I am playing GOD, I love you Star but p l e a s e, I'm Bad At Tagging, Im v happy that people have started calling Hematite. well. Hematite, Quartz makes TWO puns, bc i started that l;fh;asdlk, im bad at writing quartz sorry if hes ooc a;lsdjkhf;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 00:27:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14296785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladeOfOlympus/pseuds/BladeOfOlympus
Summary: Nero blinked rapidly at the body laying on his room's floor, unable to understand just what was happening. Quartz sat up and rubbed his head--his completely attached head--wincing."Rough ride in that bag of yours, kid."





	Both Brothers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quartzsaleim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartzsaleim/gifts).



Late afternoon sunlight filtered into the room, landing on Nero's unconscious form. The rooms given to them in Puanticca were better furnished and cozy than the others before, completely decorated in thing reminiscent of plants. The faint chatter of Saffron and Hematite drifted in from outside in the hall. Nero slowly opened his eyes, feeling sore for some reason he didn't know. He pushed himself into a sitting position and pushed a hand against one eye, groaning quietly, and with the other hand he groped over the side of the bed for his backpack.

Which wasn't there. 

Nero froze up, panicked thoughts running through his mind. What if they'd taken it, or left it on the platform? Would he be able to find HK again? And if he didn't, what would he do? He had serious doubts about winning this tournament without HK--

** _Calm down, Ren_ _._ **

Nero took his hand away from his face and finally looked around the room (which, duh, idiot, why didn't you do that earlier?), sighing when he saw the red bag on the floor in the middle of the room. Then his stiffened up again. The flap of his bag was open, and laying there, as if it had just been pushed out of it, was...

A body.

He blinked rapidly at it, not comprehending just what he was seeing. While he struggled, Quartz sat up and rubbed his head--his _completely attached_ head--wincing. It was Quartz, not Hematite, because he had that weird headband, and his horns didn't have red in them, and the outfit was like it had been. It was  _Quartz._ It was _QUARTZ._ Alive. With his  _head._  His head that turned to look at Nero and smirk. 

"Fancy meeting you here." He said, voice sounding--no pun intended--gravelly. Nero opened and closed his mouth silently like a fish out of water, stunned beyond belief. Quartz slowly got to his feet and stretched. "Rough ride in that bag of yours, kid."

Nero didn't know how to reply. What was going on? Was this another nightmare? Was Quartz suddenly going to revert to the blood-covered, headless form he usually took and mock him more?  _WHAT WAS GOING ON?_

** _Ren, breathe. It's not a dream_ _._ **

Nero started breathing more erratically.

"Bet you're wondering about how this is possible." Quartz continued casually, as if he hadn't just been vomited up by a backpack and was causing Nero to have what was quickly becoming a panic attack. "Apparently your magic bag switched me with a decoy and has been waiting for the right time to bring me back out. And it's been having.. talks with me. So I'm totally on your side now. No _hard_ feelings."

Nero was gonna pass out. 

"You okay, Nero?" Quartz inquired, leaning in to stare at him. "Looking kinda _grave_."

He opened his mouth to gasp, yeah, he was so completely fine, don't worry about it, but what came out was very different than what he had in mind.

" _AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

"Nero!" Saffron shouted as the door slammed open. He had his sword in hand, and behind him, Hematite looked ready to brawl. Quartz stood straight and faced them. There was a moment of complete still as Saffron stared at his brother, and his brother stared back. Then Saff dropped his sword with a clang. "Q-Quartz?"

"That's Quartz?" Hematite asked, but no one payed him any attention as Saff rushed across the room to tackle Quartz in a hug. Nero covered his face and tried not to black out.

"Whoa, kiddo!" Quartz murmured, hugging Saff back tightly. Saff started babbling, crying, and Quartz just hugged him. Hematite slowly came farther into the room, looking cautious. Quartz looked up at him and offered a tight smile. "Ah, you must be the new guy."

"Yeah." Hematite agreed. "You're Quartz, I'm guessing?"

"Of course. Have you been taking care of Saff?"

"Just for a few days." Hematite shrugged. He felt a little... awkward? Worried? If this was Quartz, that meant that he'd never died. And that probably meant there was no reason for Hematite to even  _exist_. He was reasonably conflicted about that. 

"Thanks, man." Quartz said, smiling at him genuinely. "I guess you're like my brother now too, huh?"

"What?" 

"I mean, you're.. me? Kinda? I think. And you're Saff's brother, right?" Quartz raised an eyebrow, patting Saffron's head. Hematite slowly nodded. Another grin appeared on Quartz' face and he shrugged, gathering up Saff and standing up. Saff put his arms around his neck and buried his face in his chest. "Then you're part of the family."

"Oh." Hematite said. Family, huh? ...He liked the sound of that. "I think I'd love to be part of your family."

"Great!" Quartz exclaimed, and they smiled at each other. Quartz started out into the hallway, Hematite following close behind. "Lets go somewhere and talk, yeah?"

Nero slowly uncovered his face a few minutes after and glared at his backpack.

"What the  _fuck_ , HK?"

 

 


End file.
